Across the Southeast

By From Wire Reports

Bike week crash total nears 70, with 6 deaths

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -Three people were killed in a spate of motorcycle accidents this week, including nearly 70 crashes so far this weekend, bringing the number of deaths during Bike Week to six by Saturday.

In one accident, four Georgia motorcyclists were hospitalized Friday after a multiple-vehicle crash in Flagler Beach that ended with a car skidding over the dunes and onto the beach.

Three of the four motorcyclists were taken to Halifax, officials said. Their names, conditions and hometowns were not immediately available Saturday.

The fourth biker, Forest Hardeman, 30, of Stockbridge, Ga., was taken to Memorial Hospital-Flagler and released.

Activists remove hens from bankrupt egg farm

DADE CITY, Fla. -Animal activists took 180 starving hens from a financially strapped Florida egg farm, saying they found homes for the birds.

Florida agriculture officials say 30,000 birds at Cypress Foods Inc.'s Pasco County farm north of Tampa starved after their feed was cut off for up to 10 days. The other 170,000 egg-laying hens are in such poor condition officials say they will be euthanized.

The company filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year, leaving about 1.4 million egg-laying hens in southeast Georgia and central Florida without feed, according to agriculture officials.

Mayors consider lawsuit to get funds from state

DURHAM, N.C. -Unhappy with the state holding on to tax reimbursements for a second straight year, the mayors of North Carolina's largest cities are considering going to court to get the money.

Filing a lawsuit seeking $114 million held back by Gov. Mike Easley could show the strength of the municipalities and put some pressure on Mr. Easley and the General Assembly, members of a North Carolina Metropolitan Coalition task force said Friday.

College pays tribute to World War I veteran

GRANTSBORO, N.C. -One of America's oldest living veterans attributes his longevity to a religious upbringing.

"What I figure on is anything you can do for the Lord is all right," World War I veteran Robert Hodges said at a tribute for him Friday at Pamlico Community College.

Family members say Mr. Hodges, North Carolina's oldest living veteran, is 113 years old, but government veterans officials have documents listing him as 110.